Latest news with #cloudfirst
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
PwC US to acquire Kunai
PwC US has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Kunai, a leading agile software consultancy specializing in AI, cloud-first web, mobile and infrastructure platforms for the financial services industry. 0 This proposed strategic acquisition aligns with PwC's commitment to helping clients reach the leading edge of their industries by combining deep expertise with powerful technology-driven and innovative solutions. The addition of Kunai's expertise enables PwC to scale existing offerings in the FS space, specifically strengthening its engineering capabilities into existing and new banking clients, to accelerate growth and provide critical capabilities. 'The acquisition of Kunai accelerates our strategy to lead in tech-enabled transformation within the Financial Services sector,' says Tyson Cornell, PwC US Advisory Leader. 'By acquiring Kunai, we're enhancing our ability to deliver engineering-led solutions that combine deep financial domain knowledge with agile, scalable technology. This move positions PwC to meet growing client demand for end-to-end transformation services—helping banks and financial institutions modernize core systems and embrace AI so they can unlock new value at speed and scale.' Founded in 2015, Kunai is an integrated team of world class product managers, software engineers, and designers with deep experience building for every major use case in fintech. Kunai's history of groundbreaking achievements and ingenuity makes them an ideal fit for PwC's growth strategy. 'Joining forces with PwC represents an exciting new chapter for Kunai,' says Sandeep Sood, CEO of Kunai. 'With access to PwC's extensive resources and global network, we're poised to accelerate innovation and amplify the impact we deliver to clients. Together, we'll be a stronger product-building strategic provider in financial technology—expanding our reach, deepening our offerings and driving smarter, faster solutions that help financial institutions thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.' This proposed acquisition comes at a time when PwC is helping clients across industries navigate intense business uncertainty. PwC's recent Value in Motion research report reveals that in 2025 alone, up to $7.1 trillion in revenue will be redistributed across the global economy as companies reinvent their business models. Organizations that adapt quickly to the uncertainty will be best positioned to capture new growth and stay ahead. Kunai's work with leading financial institutions and leading payment networks has allowed it to create solutions to many of the industry's biggest technological challenges. Kunai brings to PwC a number of core competencies, including: Mobile & Web Product Development AI & Automation Cloud Engineering Data Engineering Core Banking Systems The proposed acquisition builds on the firm's recent strategic acquisitions, demonstrating PwC's commitment to driving innovation and digital transformation both internally and for its clients. Previous acquisitions, such as Surfaceink, Sagence, Netrovert, ACTS, and EagleDream, have reinforced PwC's focus on engineering, scalable solutions, advanced analytics, enhanced collaboration, and connectivity. The proposed acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Cloud Repatriation 2.0 Is About Control—Not Going Backward
Mark Mahle is CEO of NetActuate. Not long ago, 'cloud-first' was the default IT strategy. Public cloud services promised fast deployment, global reach and freedom from hardware headaches. For startups especially, going all-in on public cloud felt like a no-brainer as it offered speed, focus and flexibility during the critical early stages of growth. But over the past few years, the conversation has shifted. Founders are asking tougher questions. Budgets are tighter. Compliance demands are more complex. And the performance stakes are higher. While few are walking away from public cloud altogether, many are starting to move specific workloads elsewhere. This second wave of cloud repatriation isn't about turning back the clock. It's about rebalancing, rethinking and reclaiming control. The First Wave—Sticker Shock And Budget Backlash The early signs of repatriation were largely financial. As companies scaled, their cloud bills ballooned—often unpredictably. What once looked like operational flexibility quickly turned into a runaway operating expense. Steady-state workloads ran around the clock, incurring usage-based fees that outpaced expectations. That first wave was reactive. Teams pulled certain applications—like databases or backend services—out of the cloud and onto dedicated hardware or colocation environments. The goal was to gain cost predictability and better long-term returns. The Second Wave—Strategic Control Today, the calculus has evolved. Repatriation is no longer just a response to cost overruns—it's a strategic decision about where different workloads belong and why. Performance is a key factor. For global platforms running AI inference, edge analytics or real-time personalization, location is critical. When every millisecond counts, a round-trip to a centralized cloud region isn't viable. Keeping compute close to users or data sources can improve responsiveness and user experience. Compliance is growing more complex. Data sovereignty laws in Europe, Asia and other regions now shape architecture decisions. If your provider can't guarantee where your data resides—or who has access to it—you could risk legal exposure. That's not a conversation any startup wants to have with regulators or investors. Lock-in is becoming harder to ignore. Building entirely on proprietary services can create migration friction down the line. Exiting later isn't just costly—it can delay product development. Founders increasingly want leverage. That means retaining flexibility in how and where applications run. Repatriation Doesn't Mean Going Backward Let's be clear, repatriation doesn't mean dragging everything back into an on-premise server closet. It means expanding your options. Not every workload fits neatly into the public cloud. Blending infrastructure environments can offer real performance and cost advantages. A modern infrastructure strategy includes colocation, managed infrastructure as a service (IaaS), edge platforms, and configuration methods like border gateway protocol (BGP) and AnyCast. It means building for portability, profitability and speed. Hybrid Infrastructure Is the New Default Hybrid infrastructure is about making intelligent, strategic choices. Cloud elasticity remains a viable option for burst capacity, dynamic scaling and rapid experimentation. But performance-critical or cost-sensitive workloads can benefit from environments you can customize and control. Edge nodes can serve latency-sensitive content closer to users. Colocated systems can deliver predictable costs and tailored configurations. Founders and CTOs are adapting both mindset and infrastructure to support platforms that are modular, portable and resilient to change. What Belongs Where? Teams evaluating workloads for repatriation should begin by assessing performance, control, cost and long-term flexibility. A workload that meets any of the following conditions may be a strong candidate for repatriation: • Meeting strict latency or performance requirements • Maintaining full control over environment or data location • Managing cloud costs exceeding acceptable or predictable thresholds • Navigating limited agility due to provider lock-in Designing For Optionality Portability starts with architecture. Workloads built on containers and orchestration platforms shift more easily between environments. Infrastructure as code and policy-based automation ensure consistent deployment. Governance and observability tools allow teams to maintain control as they scale. Smart engineering teams aren't rejecting the cloud, they're building for flexibility. They prioritize performance, compliance and business outcomes over vendor defaults. Why Founders Are Leaning In Cloud repatriation 2.0 is increasingly driven by startups balancing scalability, infrastructure costs and compliance risk. These founders are asserting control over how their platforms evolve. When companies know where their data resides, optimize performance at the edge, meet data sovereignty requirements and improve pricing efficiency, infrastructure becomes a source of competitive strength. The Bottom Line Cloud repatriation 2.0 reflects the new realities of scaling in 2025. The companies that succeed won't follow a one-size-fits-all playbook. They'll stay flexible, design for choice and treat infrastructure as a strategic advantage. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
